John H. Westerhoff III > Quotes

“Those who created the structure of the Episcopal Church were, in many cases, the same individuals who had framed and adopted the Constitution of the United States only a few years earlier, so it is not surprising that our structure is very similar.”
― John H. Westerhoff III, People Called Episcopalians: A Brief Introduction to Our Way of Life

“Hooker argued that while the Scriptures are to be our primary source of authority, they are not to be isolated from reason and tradition. Why? Because God communicated his revelation as contained in the Scriptures in a manner sensitive to the specific needs of a specific group in a specific time in history and, therefore, intended that they be interpreted to make sense to a different people in a different time. God’s revelation was, therefore, to be both inside and outside of the Scriptures, guarded and guided by the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures are intended, Hooker asserted, to be a living word and not a collection of dead letters. That is, the Scriptures (and tradition) are not self-explanatory but require the use of reason to determine their meaning. Reason, of course, is not autonomous or individualistic. Nor are there three different authorities. Rather, there is a single authority composed of three intersecting sources: the Scriptures being the normative authoritative source; reason and tradition being necessary interpretive authoritative sources.”
― John H III Westerhoff, People Called Episcopalians: A Brief Introduction to Our Way of Life

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― John H. Westerhoff III, People Called Episcopalians: A Brief Introduction to Our Way of Life

“We turn sacred story into historical event and doctrinal statement. We produce people who use the biblical story as pornography (a subject turned into an object) or as idolatry (a means turned into an end).”
― John H. Westerhoff III, A Pilgrim People: Learning Through the Church Year

“Have you ever tried to discuss the Bible with a literalist? For literalists there is no story, no poetry, no imagination, only doctrinal truths to be believed, that is, to be asserted intellectually as true.”
― John H. Westerhoff III, A Pilgrim People: Learning Through the Church Year